Book Vending Machine Officially Opens

Reading on the train just got a little bit easier.

Library Express, a book-lending machine that resembles an ATM, was officially unveiled this morning at 8 a.m. 

Around half a dozen people affiliated with the Scarsdale Public Library and the Village attended the opening event at the Scarsdale Train Station this morning, handing out bookmarks and attracting the attention of nearby commuters.

"This meets the needs of many in our community who want to borrow books, but simply don't have the time to come to the library," said Library Board President Joyce Hirsch in a press release.

Library Express allows commuters to grab books on-the-go, using their library cards to select from a variety of bestselling fiction, nonfiction, and children's books.  It can hold up to 400 books but currently contains only half that; the remaining space will be filled according to demand.

The machine is self-contained, so all books borrowed from Library Express must be returned in the same place. It can not be used to drop off books borrowed from the main library.

"Lots of people are asking if it's a book drop, which it isn't," said Celeste Fraioli, Department Head of Circulation. "Some people are kind of sad about that, because they wanted both."

A big notification on the machine's screen reads "Not a Book Drop."

"We may have a book-drop machine elsewhere in the near future," said Library Assistant Director Leni Glauber.

But so far there haven't been any real problems.

"People have been using [the machine] for the past few weeks and we've had no issues yet," said Library Director Beth Bermel. 

Library workers will be out by the machine to help people with any questions or problems when the weather gets warmer, Bermel added, hopefully by March.

Have any questions or problems with the book machine?
Contact scarsdaleLIBX@wlsmail.org